Author: Pheladi Sethusa

Journalism and Media Studies Lecturer at Wits University. Master of Arts in Digital Documentary from the University of Sussex. A former journalist at eNCA, Reuters, AFP and The Citizen.

Growing love affair

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There’s just something really special about capturing a frozen moment in time. A look, a smile, a moment that would otherwise fade from your cerebral structures.

I remember the first time I got to do what I’d seen my dad do time and time again. I begged to get a disposable camera that I could take along to my very first school camp. It was yellow and black and the most valuable thing I had ever owned.  I was only ten so most of the pitcures were a mess.

Early morning shoot at the Chinese Police Forum. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
Early morning shoot at the Chinese Police Forum. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa

But so began a tradition. Every camp that rolled around saw me getting a little camera to take to camp. For me it was about documentation, about having visual aids that would support the stories I’d tell my family. Getting photos developed was the most exciting part of the experience because by then I had long forgotten what I’d managed to capture and the developed prints would be a pleasant surprise.

I knew I liked photos. That I like taking them, seeing them and being in them.

A few camps later and technological advancement had changed the game up. At about 14/15 digital camera’s had become commercially accessible.  Naturally I just had to have one. Who wouldn’t want to see their photo’s seconds after they’d taken them? It didn’t take much convincing to get my dad to buy me my first digital camera.

It was a thing of beauty. All those buttons and things that helped me not to miss.

Suddenly it became about more than smiley group photo’s. It became about landscapes and the extraordinary things that I saw around me. It became about the things that I wanted to capture. The things that I saw and how I saw them.

Over the years as the passion for the workings of the lens has grown, so has the need to do more than just capture frozen moments.

Now I want the composition,  the subject and back/foreground to tell a story. To do more than jog my memory. For the narratives to extend beyond the self.

I think that’s what I hope to do. I’m still learning and very keen to do so. Still trying to figure it out.

To see a little of what I have done so far, visit: therebble.tumblr.com 🙂

In-depth wrap up [2/4]

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And just like that another week has come to an end.

I’ve just sent my second draft through to my mentor,  I know it’s still messy and needs a lot of work but I feel so much better about this one for sure.

My last submission was a very, very rough sketch, mostly of things to come.

This week was far more productive than last week was.  I knew it was getting late for me and my non-story so that lit a fire under my ass.

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Unfinished archway at Chinatown, Cyrildene. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa

I knew that this unfinished arch in Cyrildene would be the peice of the puzzle that would make my story about development in that area come together, I just didn’t realise how vital this information would be to the rest of my story.

I’m not where I need to be yet but I am getting there I think. This may have been due to an attitude shift. I think a lot of us got over the small obstacles and chose to exhaust all other means of getting what we needed.

For lack of a better phrase, we had ourselves a cup of cement and hardened the fuck up.

The hustle was real this week, it was inspiring to watch and be a part of all at once. Maybe this won’t be the worst time after all.

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Best reads

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Week two of in-depth hustling has come to a close, so let’s see what some of my comrades have been up to:

Organised, “victimless” crime

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Yesterday I got to have a sit down interview with the chairman of the Chinese Police Forum, Rob Crawford. We met as his house just a street away from Derrick Avenue in Cyrildene.

Rob works on a volunteer basis for the CPF and has been doing so for 12 years now. He doesn’t get paid for his CPF work, during the day he makes his bacon by teaching Karate. Which made the t-shirt he was wearing seem much less prejudicial than I imagined it was.

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Karate kid vibes. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa

The Juice

Within in the first few minutes of speaking to Rob I realised that he was going to give me information I could have only ever dreamed of getting – and boy did he. If ever there was a scoop of life, this was it.

Rob told my colleagues and I about the kind of organised criminal activity that plagues Cyrildene. About the Chinese mafia (called the Triad), an assortment of crimes that make car hijackers look like novices to the field.

I have some but also no idea how I am going to make everything he told me fit into my story but where there’s a will, there’s a way and the will in this case is gargantuan (I never get to use that word, thanks Elle Driver/California Mountain Snake).

The arch

After the very enlightening interview with Rob, we headed to the official opening of one of the Cyrildene archways. The very pretty one that I thought was done and dusted. I wanted to find out why construction on the other arch had all but stopped and I found out due to a helpful source.

The blazing sun was not a fun time so it was a in and out mission but Shandu wrote about it on her blog, give it a look.

The things I found out yesterday made me super keen to get cracking on my second draft, have so much more to go on now. Excitement.

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The “r” word

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I think I’ve figured it out. I’ve figured out why so many of my calls have not been returned.  Why so many emails have been no more than two line replies. Why so many of the people I have met in the past two weeks, have answered my questions by simply shaking their heads and in some lucky instances offering a referral.

Shop owners, developers, centre managers and some civil servants have all shied away when I dropped the big “r” word. Is too serious for them to take a chance, to make an official statement or even give an honest opinion?

Is the “r” word the thing that has closed off pathways to people who seemed like the most legitimate and potentially helpful sources?

Research. That is the “r” word.

In the past when I’ve worked on stories people have been open and keen to indulge me. Quick to answer my questions, send additional resources even.

I suppose this is not just any story though. It is thee story.

It’s a test, a challenge and a chance to bring together our vast set of skills. To prod and poke, not tire when it gets too daunting, to show that we’re capable. Capable of leaving shallow waters and venturing deeper. Of digging and digging until we find a story that hasn’t been told. Of being able to see angles that others have missed. Capable of being the kind of journalists we’ve been groomed to be.

The “r” word takes us to another level. It’s not a a matter of scratching the surface. It’s running up and down and around and around, it’s writing and re-writing, shooting and re-shooting. It’s what will launch us into greatness.

I’m trying to swallow the “r” word, to imbibe it, digest it and eventually produce something worthy. Onwards and upwards.

Encounters

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There have been a number of encounters along this in-depth journey that have been interesting, surprising, disappointing and some enlightening.

Today I had three different encounters that served as a further peak into the Chinese diaspora in Johannesburg.  Well maybe not so much a peak but rather an actual front row seat.

The first was in the morning at the first meeting of the day. Shandu and I headed out to Randburg to meet the centre manager at China Discount Market. Upon pulling in to the parking lot, the grey and red walls seemed to be the only thing we could see. The parking lot was almost empty.

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Side piece

After a few stops and starts we sat down to talk to 26 year old Angelique Gu. She was very helpful and answered all our questions, even though our conversations were intetrupted quite often. The fifth and final interruption came from a man wearing an all black suit. He nodded in our direction and then went on to have  a whole chat with Angelique.  Then he sat down and his jacket exposed a silver gun tucked away in a holster on his hip. Two or three nervous glances later Shandu and I started packing up.

Slumber makes you fat

The next trip saw me heading out to old Chinatown with my group members Emelia and Prelene. While milling about before our interview,  Prelene and I walked into a cafe quickly. I yawned when we were paying and the lady helping us said: “You like sleep to much”. To which I replied well I do actually.  Then she went on to tell me that’s why I’m so big (she made a gesture with her arms to demonstrate my roundness). I laughed as one does when they are reminded of how they look. She then went on to tell me: “You too fat for your age. Sleep less, exercise more. Stop eating meat and only eat veg.” At which point she showed me a sample by taking a big mouthful of what looked like strips of  cucumber in a soup.  She licked her chopsticks to demonstrate how delicious her healthy lunch was. Chinese wisdom is blunt innit?

A historical affair

We had an interview with four generations of the Pon family – one of the oldest Chinese families in Johannesburg.  We met with the family at a noodle bar.

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Two black pigtails and the sweetest, cutest face were the highlight of my day. Four year old ballerina, Gabriella Pon had me from the moment she showed us her first ballet move. She was very excited to show everyone her new red tutu and very keen to pose for photos.

Not only is she a ballerina but she also speaks three languages fluently (Cantonese, Mandarin and English). And has the cutest wave. She made my day.

Keep calm and carry on

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This hangs in my room and gave me the kick I needed when I woke up.
This hangs in my room and gave me the kick I needed when I woke up.

Yes, yes we all know and have come to hate that infamous meme. But whatever your feelings are that statement remains practical and true.

I had a bit of a freak out yesterday when I realised that things weren’t looking so great for my in-depth work.

Today was a lot different. I told myself that I would do better, try harder and just not give up on myself. When I got to the department I lined up all the people I had to talk to, made a list of things to do, read more and just carried on.

A classmate of mine who was off sick last week said it best when she said “there’s really no point in freaking out, I’ll just do my best with the time I have left.”

Even though the two trips I made today weren’t super helpful they weren’t a complete waste. I saw photo opportunity ideas run across my mind, found a few more words to add to my feature and I suppose just made the best of it. I even found new contacts who are willing to help me out so that’s always a plus.

Today was great because I willed it to be. Tomorrow will be better because I’ve planned for it to be.

Well here we are…

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… more or less in the same exact place I was a week ago. Okay maybe not a whole week but certainly a few days ago.

I woke up at 5a.m with hope in my heart and some determination in my hand.  I had plans, no, visions of how the day might go and how much I’d get done.

The sky after the afternoon rains. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa
The sky after the afternoon rains. Photo: Pheladi Sethusa

By about 11a.m this morning those hopes and plans had all but vanished.  What remained was a deep hopelessness.  My poor time management skills were holding me back yazi.

After a quick durry at lunch time a little hope was back, I got round to trying to call sources again. I was met by engaged lines, voice mail messages
and endless ringing.  On two lucky ocassions I was met with an actual human voice on the other side.

I have successfully managed to eliminate all distractions from my (cough photography portfolio cough). I hope, I really do that I can make some noticeable headway tomorrow. If not for my sanity, for my sanity (see the cray levels are on ultra already)

ps – I really didn’t want to have me, me, me posts on this blog because you know it’s meant to be a profesh situation but I guess I’m not an automaton like that. Okay then.

Best Reads

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New Chinatown-3

As part of our in-depth project, we have to blog religiously to keep our various mentors up to date with what we are doing and how we are progressing (or not). There were a lot of posts to read through and a lot of good one’s out this week, but as always I do have my faves and here they are:

  • A Chinese Necropolis: Day two by Mfuneko Toyana. Learnt something interesting about Chinese tombstones when I read this and it was just a good read. Give it a bash.
  • Chinese Johannesburg: Field Work Day 3 by Liesl Frankson. I legit cannot wait to read Liesl’s final product, her topic is of particular interest to me and this piece is a nice little taste of what’s to come I think.
  • In depth day 5: Thank God for Google Translate by Ray Mahlaka. Ray struck gold when a genius and innovative idea to start breaking down the language barriers we all kept hitting. That’s my team member ya’ll. Have a look at his blog for more posts from the past week, pure quality.
  • Snake wine for sexy time by Caro Malherbe. Last week we tasted some of the most potent alcohol I have ever tasted, Caro looks at what was in that little shot glass.
  • Unpacking prejudice by Shandukani Mulaudzi. Shandu writes about an interview she had, which forced her to realise she had some ‘unpacking’ to do 😉

In-depth wrap up [1/4]

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This past week has been one of the most challenging of the whole year. On Monday morning we officially started working on our in-depth research projects.

Up until that point we had only been told how intense it would be and how difficult it may be to connect with sources. It took no more than a full day for us to realise this ourselves. Day after day, colleague after colleague would walk into the newsroom at the end of the day with nothing but defeat written all over their faces.

Our biggest challenge was definitely the language barrier we bumped into in almost 80% of our encounters with people from the Chinese community.  There were some particular instances that stuck out that I talked about earlier in the week. Which is why it was so interesting to find out about a partnership with the Chinese Police Forum (CPF) in Cyrildene and the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the area. They are working together to combat the language barrier so that the police in that area can do their jobS as effectively as possible.

The video above was taken at a Mandarin lesson held at the CPF offices on Thursday morning. In attendance are members of the local SAPS. These lessons take place weekly. It was interesting to me because one has come to expect foreigners to adapt to local ways of doing things when they migrate to a particular place. In this instance things are happening vice versa. The locals are finding ways to adapt to a foreign language to help migrants in that area.

While I understand that being a foreigner in any country is challenging, we have all stumbled upon one recurring theme within the Chinese community. I use the word community loosely here because the five or so examples I’m drawing from are by no means representative of the community at large. A lot of the English speaking people we encountered described the Chinese community, especially those living in Cyrildene as being very insular. To me the example above is evidence of that.

So our challenge this week was two fold. Not only could we not communicate effectively but we also had minimal success in trying to break down the walls built up by some of the people we encountered. But on the whole I get that as a foreigner in a place you consider especially dangerous, one would take to keeping to themselves to avoid landing up in any kind of perilous situations. My job is to figure out how to work around this well enough to make a connection and get the information I need,

Well I suppose that’s not my job in this particular instance because my topic doesn’t rely too heavily on individuals on the ground, but who knows it might in a few days.

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